Canaletto - Spot the Difference
June 29 2020
Picture: The Art Newspaper
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Contemporary artist José Manuel Ballester has collaborated with the Pinacoteca de Brera in order to raise funds for the museum's reopening. The work (left) took inspiration from his previous series entitled 'Concealed Spaces', which reimagined famous works of art devoid of their figures. In this case he has edited out the figures in Canaletto's View of the Basin of San Marco from the Punta della Dogana held in the museum's collection.
In an interview published in The Art Newspaper the artist explained:
“I’m glad the works can be useful in a circumstance like the current one, although they weren’t created for that purpose,” Ballester says. “One of the virtues of this series is the versatility of interpretations.”
He also hopes the Concealed Spaces work will change people’s perspectives, “so that we can see what is hidden, what is in the background and learn to see the invisible,” Ballester says. “Just as we cannot see this virus except through its symptoms or through medical tests, art can help us visualise aspects of life that would otherwise not be possible.”
